The Relationship of the Present Theory to Parsons’ Theory

Abstract

The work of building a systematic general theory of the sociology of international law draws to a large extent on the general theory of social action in the field of theoretical sociology. The classic form of the general theory of social action was set forth by Talcott Parsons, who attempted to construct a general framework for the analysis of interactions among social phenomena by examining and integrating the theories of Weber, Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Marshall, and Vilfredo Pareto. Parsons derived his basic ideas regarding social systems and their integration from Durkheim, his analysis of social structure and of the boundaries between social and cultural systems from Weber, and the idea of seeking a bridge between social systems and personality from Freud.1 While recognizing the greatness of his predecessors’ achievements, he was aware, as he weighed their success in constructing general analytical frameworks, that their formulation of the problems and their findings were merely a starting point from which to proceed toward his own goal of building a general framework for the analysis of social interactions. In his methodology, Parsons was greatly influenced by theoretical economics,2 behavioral psychology,3 and social anthropology.4 He aimed to systematically integrate the bodies of knowledge represented by these disciplines into his own theory. This work resulted in Parsons’ general theory of social action and in the approach known as structural-functional analysis.